Brother Where You Bound
Brother Where You Bound is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in 1985. It was their first album after original member Roger Hodgson left the band, leaving Rick Davies to handle the songwriting and singing on his own. The album features the group's Top 30 hit "Cannonball".
Brother Where You Bound | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 25 May 1985 | |||
Recorded | 1984–1985 Ocean Way, Hollywood, CA and The Backyard Studio, Encino, CA | |||
Genre | Progressive rock, pop rock, blues rock | |||
Length | 42:44 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Producer | David Kershenbaum, Supertramp | |||
Supertramp chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Brother Where You Bound | ||||
|
Brother Where You Bound reached number 20 on the UK Albums Chart[1] and number 21 on The Billboard 200 in 1985,[2] and went Gold according to the band's then label A&M Records in 1985, although the RIAA hasn't certified it yet.
A remastered CD version of the album was released on 30 July 2002 on A&M Records.
Songs
The track "Better Days" features an extended fade-out with voice-overs by the four key players in the 1984 Presidential Campaign: quotes spoken by Geraldine Ferraro and Walter Mondale sounding from the left audio channel and those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan on the right, mixed with John Helliwell's extended saxophone solo.
The album's sixteen-and-a-half-minute title track featured Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham on rhythm guitar and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour on the guitar solos. Also, the track had readings from George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. A demo for the song was recorded prior to Roger Hodgson's departure from the band,[3] for potential inclusion on …Famous Last Words…, but the band ultimately felt it was too densely progressive rock to be appropriate, and decided against recording it for the album.[4] At the time of the demo, the song was only ten minutes long.[4]
Release
To build interest in the release, the album was premiered to dozens of members of the press traveling aboard a specially chartered trip on the Orient Express from Paris to Venice, where reporters were shown the full video for "Brother Where You Bound".[5] The normally low-profile group also did extensive radio and TV appearances, including a high-profile appearance on radio's Rockline after a simulcast of the "Brother Where You Bound" video on MTV and Global Satellite Network.[6]
Reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
AllMusic's review was resoundingly positive, noting that the album's thematic exploration of Cold War tensions "is dated and hasn't aged very well… but the music is a pleasure." They particularly praised the "crystalline sound", the strong performances of the guest musicians, and the complexity of the compositions. They also praised the band for being "gutsy" enough to "re-embrace its progressive-rock roots" while improving their pop songcraft at the same time.[7]
In a review special, Prog Sphere writes "Brother Where You Bound is a prime example of ‘crossover’ prog at its very best, and as such highly recommended to anyone but those prog fans who think that ‘pop’ is inevitably a bad word."[8]
Track listing
All songs written by Rick Davies.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Cannonball" | 7:38 |
2. | "Still in Love" | 4:36 |
3. | "No Inbetween" | 4:36 |
4. | "Better Days" | 6:15 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Brother Where You Bound" | 16:30 |
2. | "Ever Open Door" | 3:06 |
Personnel
- Rick Davies – piano (all tracks), synthesizers (all tracks), hammond organ (track 2), vocals
- John Helliwell – saxophones (tracks 1-5)
- Bob Siebenberg – drums (all tracks)
- Dougie Thomson – bass (tracks 1-5)
Additional personnel
- David Gilmour – guitar solos on Brother Where You Bound
- Scott Gorham – Rhythm guitar on Brother Where You Bound
- Marty Walsh – Guitar on Cannonball, Still in love, Better Days & Brother Where You Bound
- Doug Wintz – Trombone on Cannonball
- Cha Cha – backing vocals on Still in Love
- Brian Banks – Synclavier programming
- Anthony Marinelli – Synclavier programming
- Gary Chang – Fairlight & PPG programming
- Scott Page – Flute on Better Days & Brother Where You Bound
Production
- Producers: David Kershenbaum, Supertramp
- Engineer: Norman Hall
- Assistant engineer: Steve Crimmel
- Mixing: Mark Ettel
- Mixing assistant: Steve McMillan
- Mastering: Bob Ludwig
- Remastering: Greg Calbi, Jay Messina
- Track engineer: Allen Sides
- Programming: Gary Chang
- Synclavier programming: Brian Banks, Anthony Marinelli
- Art direction: Norman Moore
- Design: Norman Moore
- Tray photo: Tom Gibson
2002 A&M reissue:
The 2002 A&M Records reissue was mastered from the original master tapes by Greg Calbi and Jay Messina at Sterling Sound, New York, 2002. The reissue was supervised by Bill Levenson with art direction by Vartan and design by Mike Diehl, with production coordination by Beth Stempel.
Singles
Charts – Billboard (United States)[9]
Year | Single | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|---|
1985 | "Cannonball" | Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 9 |
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | 25 | ||
Mainstream Rock Tracks | 4 | ||
Billboard Hot 100 | 28 | ||
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
|
References
- Supertramp in the UK Charts Archived 17 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Official Charts. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
- Brother Where You Bound chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
- Van Kooten, Jerry (3 December 2005). Giving a Little Bit: A Conversation With Roger Hodgson, Dutch Progressive Rock Page.
- Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Toronto, Canada: Omnibus Press. pp. 167–175. ISBN 0-9691272-2-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=111688
- "Billboard". 11 May 1985.
- Brother Where You Bound at AllMusic
- http://www.prog-sphere.com/2012/06/06/supertrampspecial/
- "Cannonball" chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- "Supertramp – Brother Where You Bound – austriancharts.at" (ASP). Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 42, No. 19". RPM. 20 July 1985. Archived from the original (PHP) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- "dutchcharts.nl Supertramp – Brother Where You Bound" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.Note: user must select 'Supertramp' from drop-down.
- "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1985" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- "charts.nz Supertramp – Brother Where You Bound" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- "norwegiancharts.com Supertramp – Brother Where You Bound" (ASP). Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
- "swedishcharts.com Supertramp – Brother Where You Bound" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- "Supertramp – Brother Where You Bound – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- "Supertramp > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- "allmusic ((( Brother Where You Bound > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- "Album Search: Supertramp – Brother Where You Bound" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1985". RPM. 28 December 1985. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
- "Les Albums (CD) de 1985 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- "Hitparade.ch - Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1985". Swiss Music Charts. Hung Medien. Archived from the original (ASP) on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- "Canadian album certifications – Supertramp – Brother Where You Bound". Music Canada. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
- "French album certifications – Supertramp – Brother Where You Bound" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 1 June 2012. Select SUPERTRAMP and click OK.
- "Les Albums Or". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
- "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Supertramp; 'Brother Where You Bound')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
- "Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1979–1990". Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano.